Back Northern Line Catalan Northern Line Czech Northern Line Welsh Northern line Danish Northern Line German Northern Line Spanish خط شمالی متروی لندن Persian Northern line Finnish Northern line Faeroese Northern line French
| Northern line | |
|---|---|
 | |
 1995 Stock arrives at Stockwell tube station heading northbound to Edgware via Bank, July 2024 | |
| Overview | |
| Termini |
|
| Stations | 52 |
| Colour on map | Black |
| Website | tfl.gov.uk |
| Service | |
| Type | Rapid transit |
| System | London Underground |
| Depot(s) |
|
| Rolling stock | 1995 Stock |
| Ridership | 339.7 million passenger journeys (2019)[2] |
| History | |
| Opened |
|
| Last extension | 20 September 2021 |
| Technical | |
| Line length | 58 km (36 mi) |
| Character | Deep-tube |
| Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge |
| Electrification | Fourth rail, 630 V DC |
| Operating speed | 45 mph (72 km/h)[3] |
| Signalling | CBTC (SelTrac) |
The Northern line is a London Underground line that runs between North London and South London. It is printed in black on the Tube map. It carries more passengers per year than any other Underground line – around 340 million in 2019 – making it the busiest tube line in London. The Northern line is unique on the network in having two different routes through Central London, two northern branches and two southern branches. Despite its name, it does not serve the northernmost stations on the Underground, though it does serve the southernmost station at Morden, the terminus of one of the two southern branches.
The line's northern termini, all in the London Borough of Barnet, are at Edgware and High Barnet; Mill Hill East is the terminus of a single-station branch line off the High Barnet branch. The two main northern branches run south to join at Camden Town where two routes, one via Charing Cross in the West End and the other via Bank in the City, continue and then join at Kennington in Southwark. At Kennington the line again divides into two branches, one to each of the southern termini – at Morden, in the borough of Merton, and at Battersea Power Station in Wandsworth.
For most of its length the Northern line is a deep tube line.[nb 1] The portion between Stockwell and Borough opened in 1890 and is the oldest section of deep-level tube line on the network. Nearly 340 million passenger journeys were recorded in 2019 on the Northern line, making it the busiest on the Underground, although this is distorted due to having 2 branches within Central London, both of which are less busy than the core sections of other lines.[4] It has 18 of the system's 31 stations south of the River Thames. There are 52 stations in total on the line, of which 38 have platforms below ground.
The line's structure of two northern branches (one with a further short branch), two central branches, and two southern branches reflects its complicated history. The core of the line, including the two central branches and the beginnings of the two northern branches, was constructed by two companies, the City and South London Railway and the Charing Cross, Euston and Hampstead Railway, in the 1890s and 1900s. The companies came under the same ownership in 1913, and were physically connected and operationally merged in the 1920s, while at the same time extensions to Edgware and Morden were completed. In the 1930s and 1940s the Northern line took over and electrified the London and North Eastern Railway branches to Mill Hill East and High Barnet. This was the final extension of the line for eight decades, though between the 1930s and 1970s the Northern City Line was branded and operated as part of the Northern line despite being disconnected from the rest of the line. The most recent extension, a second southern branch from Kennington to Battersea, opened on 20 September 2021. There are proposals to split the line into two separate lines.
- ^ "Northern line facts". Transport for London. Archived from the original on 12 March 2012. Retrieved 12 March 2012.
- ^ "London Assembly Questions to the Mayor". London Assembly. 2022. Retrieved 29 February 2024.
- ^ "City Metric". Centre for Cities. 18 September 2017. Archived from the original on 22 October 2017. Retrieved 22 October 2023.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
cityamwas invoked but never defined (see the help page).
Cite error: There are <ref group=nb> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=nb}} template (see the help page).
© MMXXIII Rich X Search. We shall prevail. All rights reserved. Rich X Search